Community Corner

Parole Denied for Health Aide Convicted of Murdering Brookline Doctor

The following uses information supplied by the Norfolk County District Attorney's office.

Martine Pressat was denied parole on February 19. Pressat was found guilty of murder in the second degree in 2000 for beating retired Brookline psychiatrist Dr. John Weil to death in his Westwood apartment in December of 1997.

According to a statement from the Office of the Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey, evidence at the trial showed that Pressat had been writing herself checks from Dr. Weil’s account prior to the murder.

Then Assistance District Attorney Anthony Gemma showed that Pressat killed Dr. Weil shortly after he had met with his accountant and discovered that Pressat was stealing from him.

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The jury found Pressat guilty of beating Dr. Weil to death shortly after he confronted her about the thefts.

Dr. Weil wrote several books on child psychiatry and had a practice in Brookline. Weil, 77, retired from the psychiatry field and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1997. Pressat was one of several home health aides eomplyed to help Dr. Weil and his wife in the Fox Hill Village retirement community in Westwood.

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The parole board heard Pressat’s petition as well as the opposition from the DA’s office and Weil’s relatives.

“Based on the defendant’s continued denial of culpability, her continued insistence that she was defending herself against this infirm, elderly man – although the physical evidence forcefully dispels that – as well as other factors, I think it is clear that the Parole Board has acted wisely here,” District Attorney Morrissey said in a statement.

Pressat was eligible for parole after 15 years of her sentencing. Pressat will not be eligible to reapply for parole for another five years. 


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